For 7 Years, This Photographer Has Been Capturing The World's Gingers For All To See

There's a whole lot of diversity going on with our red-headed friends.

Elana

• Published in Interesting
• May 5, 2021

At 39-years old, Scottish photographer Kieran Dodds has basically spent his 30's travelling the world and documenting red-heads (AKA gingers) on camera. Red hair is considered a very unique trait, as only 1-2% of the global population is a natural red-head.

His project, which he transformed into a visually stunning book, is not just about pictures of gingers. According to Dodds, it's about connecting people, or more specifically, "connecting us across political and cultural boundaries, using a rare golden thread."

In an interview with Bored Panda, Dodds said: "Look, stare and marvel, that’s the whole point. Find connections across the world. I want people to compare the portraits and delight in our variety even without an apparently homogenous group. We are made of the same stuff but we are uniquely tuned."

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"Marteka Nembhard, Jamaica, Born In 2005"

"Clockwise: Steven Mckay, Esther, Rebecca (Mother), Chloe, Lois And Abigail, Scotland"

"Sveta Ni, Russia, Born In 1996"

Dodds said, "Sveta Ni, in particular, stood out as she said her father’s family line was originally from China."

How does someone come to spend seven years travelling over the entire world, interviewing and photographing gingers? Dodds told Bored Panda:

"In 2014, Scotland voted on independence and I was considering the cliches of identity. I knew I was one of them, being pale and ginger, but very early on in the research process, I found that it is a global trait. Even Scotland, as the global capital, has 13% of people at most showing the hair color. There were two hot spots, it claimed, one in Scotland and Ireland that is confirmed by science—the Celtic Fringe. The other hot spot was in Russia that was confirmed by an anecdote."

"Alexander Soued, Scotland, Born In 2011"

"Gilad Belkin, Israel, Born In 1988"

"Chris McCabe, Scotland"

Reflecting on how far-spread his project brought him, Dodds said: "Our genes have traveled far across history even if we personally have not."

Scotland, the Russian city of Perm, and Jamaica are considered "hot spots" of red heads, so Dodds did spend a lot of time in those areas.

"Lucy Fleming, Scotland, Born In 2005"

"Jordan DeLeon, Jamaica, Born In 2016"

"Pacey Young, Scotland"

Still, he did travel, a lot, and that's got a lot to do with why it took so long to complete the project. Seven years, to be precise. He said:

"Due to constraints on money (this was all self-funded), I focused my attention on the two hot spots, but also Jamaica. I made work over seven years in different places in the UK. In London, I met gingers from across the world, but in Scotland, I saw that you don’t need to travel far. One lad had an Indian great-grandfather and another had an Eastern European mother and Middle Eastern dad. He is Scottish, but his story expands our expectations of that narrow political term."

"Maya Duncan-Smith, Dundee, Scotland"

"Jamie Hallam, Scotland, Born In 2004"

"Photographer's Daughters Izzy & Ada Dodds, Scotland"

Dodds said:

"The oldest ginger gene mutation is traced to Central Asia with gingers in Western China, Afghanistan, and North Pakistan. I would love to go there and continue the project, but the transect I have made across 11 time zones is an attempt to capture this range."

"Nixie Connelly, Scotland"

"Photographer Kieran Dodds, Scotland, Born In 1980"

"Randy Wong, Jamaica, Born In 1988"

His beautiful book is dedicated to his twin daughters. Those lucky gals happen to be the last photograph in the book, too. Dodds said:

"I want something for them to grow up and see they are part of something bigger, not merely an identity group but a group within the bigger family of humanity."

Elana